A federal officer shot a man in the leg during an enforcement operation in north Minneapolis on Wednesday evening, prompting protests in a city already on edge following the killing of Renee Nicole Good by an ICE agent last week.
Witnesses reported the shooting occurred around 7pm local time. Several hundred protesters gathered at the scene, facing off with agents who blocked off the area and used smoke and other crowd control weapons. Police Chief Brian O'Hara urged demonstrators to leave, describing their behaviour as unlawful.
Mayor Jacob Frey condemned the conduct of ICE as 'disgusting and intolerable' but called for calm, saying: 'We cannot counter Donald Trump's chaos with our own brand of chaos.' He warned that protesters were not helping undocumented immigrants in the city.
The Department of Homeland Security said the shooting occurred during a targeted traffic stop of an illegal alien from Venezuela, claiming the suspect resisted and attacked, and that two others also assaulted the officer, who fired a defensive shot. The Guardian has not verified these details. The city confirmed the man was taken to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
About 3,000 immigration officers are operating in Minnesota, part of what the Trump administration calls the largest enforcement operation in DHS history. The militarised presence has transformed daily life, with volunteers patrolling streets, observing arrests, and delivering food and transport to fearful families.
Governor Tim Walz urged Minnesotans to record 'atrocities' committed by ICE agents to 'bank evidence for future prosecution', describing the operation as 'a campaign of organised brutality'. He called on residents to carry phones to document what is happening in their communities.
